Tuesday, July 14, 2009

What more do they want?

I was just remembering an episode from 2006: I traveled to Uruguay and Argentina on vacation with my mother back when I was a diplomat assigned to Ecuador. The day we left on our trip, I broke my ankle; luckily for our travel plans, a "walking cast" enabled me to climb on a plane that evening. As we went through the immigration lines in Buenos Aires early the next morning, I decided to use the short line for diplomats, pregnant women, and handicapped persons. Since I wasn't actually accredited as a diplomat to Argentina, I presented my regular "tourist" passport to the immigration officer. He scowled at me and said, "Didn't you see this line is only for diplomats?" In my fatigue, I pathetically responded, "I'm a diplomat, just not accredited in Argentina. I'm five months pregnant. I have a broken ankle. Don't I qualify for this line?" He just gruffly said, "I didn't notice." No apologies, but he did let me go through his line (I don't think there was anyone waiting after me, anyway). Sometimes it seems like a person just can't do enough to make a bureaucrat happy...

No comments:

Post a Comment